Talk:bitch
Japanese
Someone added the comment that this word does not exist in Japanese. I don't know Japanese, but an online translator told me that mesuinu and ikeike are equivalents. Can someone verify this? ~MDD4696 03:04, 31 May 2007 (UTC) ：It depends which definition of 'bitch' you are referring to. Certainly its referential meaning of 'female dog' can be readily translated. Tooironic 22:51, 20 April 2009 (UTC)
- Hi Tooironic and welcome to Wiktionary! I fixed that. These words are literal for female dog, I added the Japanese for "spiteful woman". There are a few archaic words. I added only some most common. Anatoli 00:48, 21 April 2009 (UTC)
meaning 'prostitute'
Anyone clarify why many non-native speakers of English believe 'bitch' means 'prostitute'? I think this should be addressed on the main page. — This unsigned comment was added by 84.9.46.223 (talk) at 18:08, 21 January 2009.
- Seconded!
- I'd been scouring the internet to find a good Polish translation of this word. There's 'wiedźma', but besides spitefulness this word seems to connote elderliness, so I think it would better translate to 'hag'. Other possibilities I've come up with are 'złośnica', 'awanturnica', 'jędza', and 'piekielnica'. I've also found a suitable adjective: 'wredna'. But I feel as if the wyszukane słowo (perfect word) continues to elude me.
- Wiktionary was no help in my quest, going along with the general misconsensus in this matter and providing me with 16 Polish words mapping to 'whore', 'slag', 'slut', etc. Sonofabitch! ]-:< Even PWN-Oxford and Kościuszko Foundation concur on translation to 'suka' (the former parenthetically qualifying a 'bitch' as a "kobieta rozwiązła" - a licentious woman). I don't agree... With some exceptions in the industries of pornographic films and gangsta' rap, the word 'bitch' is indeed rather used to denote a spiteful and unpleasant woman, and has nothing whatsoever to do with sex. For non-native English-speakers who want to revise and deepen their understanding of the term 'bitch', I recommend a look at this comprehensive taxonomy of bitches.
- Doctor Colossus 22:53, 9 March 2011 (UTC)
- I added the “whore” sense. It must be the source of the widespread non-native use you are talking about. — TAKASUGI Shinji (talk) 12:13, 21 August 2018 (UTC)
Beotch
What about the term "beotch"? 142.166.204.151 00:28, 1 March 2009 (UTC)
- What about it? --EncycloPetey 06:48, 1 March 2009 (UTC)
The Alternative is also been seen as Beeyotch, Beyaach, or Beyaatch, as beyaache...Humorous phonetic misspellings are used to convey the audible usage. This is intended to soften the otherwise "harder" or coarser, connotations of the the original word. Audible usage of written words are also often overlooked in dictionarys. The audible connotes and the dictionary denotes. This may actually provide a sub section within Wiktionary.Rogerspeed23 April 22, 2009 909 CST
- Where? We index accortding to spellings and use written evidence in the form of citations to support the definitions. We have no means to index "audible usage". --EncycloPetey 01:00, 23 April 2009 (UTC)
- We do, however, have a listing for biatch. Angr 14:09, 26 May 2009 (UTC)
"Usually humorous or archaic"?
The original meaning of bitch, a female dog, is now "usually humorous or archaic"? Not among dog breeders, I think; I'm pretty sure they regularly use the word with that meaning with no humorous or archaizing intent at all. Angr 14:11, 26 May 2009 (UTC)
Verb form
There are some constructions of 'to bitch' I've heard before but aren't confident enough to add -- like "bitch at" and "bitch out". Could someone check those (I wouldn't know where to start) and add them to the article please? ~tinlv7 (Please copy a response here.)
Etymology
Why is there no mention of the French word "la biche"? Doesn't it look more than obvious that bitch and biche are related/could very well be related. Considering that many, many English words are derived from French and not the other way round, wouldn't it be plausible that "bitch" does NOT have its immediate origin in Old Norse/Germanic forms but in the French "biche"? This is not to say, this is so - but before looking up the etymology of "bitch" I had always automatically assumed that "bitch" was derived from the very similar word "biche"... — This comment was unsigned.
- Chambers' etymology doesn't mention the French either. Equinox ◑ 23:01, 15 November 2010 (UTC)
- It's possible, but keep in mind that in French "une biche" is a doe (female deer), not a female dog, so it would have had to change species as well as languages when borrowed. JodianWarrior (talk) 18:30, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
- Well it already changed from canine to human so .. Nissimnanach (talk) 14:06, 16 February 2023 (UTC)Nissimnanach
- And bichon has: Borrowed from French bichon. Doublet of bitch. Nissimnanach (talk) 14:12, 16 February 2023 (UTC)Nissimnanach
- Yes, that's a loanword from English. —Soap— 12:09, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
- It's possible, but keep in mind that in French "une biche" is a doe (female deer), not a female dog, so it would have had to change species as well as languages when borrowed. JodianWarrior (talk) 18:30, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
Referring to men
Definition 3 of the noun form is unfamiliar to me and the quotation (the movie is actually titled Jagged Edge) doesn't seem to make sense for this definition (if it's being said by Glenn Close). Anyway, would be good to have some better quotes, preferably older ones for it and the previous definition, as the entries claim these uses of the word are centuries old.
Also, a quote for definition 5 could be the famous line from Pulp Fiction "Does he look like a bitch?" 142.90.107.101 23:31, 21 March 2011 (UTC)
- I agree that the sense 4 quote ,
- Glenn Close in the movie The Jagged Edge:
- You called me a bitch, didn’t you?
- doesn't apply, so I removed it. It doesn't seem to really illustrate any of the senses particularly well.--Person12 (talk) 04:22, 3 March 2012 (UTC)
bioch
will someone add this to derived terms?Acdcrocks 07:26, 11 October 2011 (UTC)
US
Many of the vulgar/colloquial usages mentioned are US-only or north-America only, anyway, unknown in Britain apart from as us-cultural import (other countries? Aus?). In Britain it is possible that younger speakers might say "you're my bitch now" because they've heard US speakers on TV or in US movies. To older English speakers in England it would be incomprehensible apart from being an assumed insult and bizarre when applied to a male. I am a native spkr from England.
What's the best way to go about marking this dialectal restriction?CecilWard (talk) 01:13, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
Dutch (nl)
I tried to add 'trut (m/f)' to the Dutch (nl) translation, but do not succeed. ('an error occurred while saving'). Maybe someone else succeeds to do this? Thanks Pascal van Geest (talk) 16:22, 14 October 2012 (UTC)
RFV of "assertive" sense
The following information has failed Wiktionary's verification process.
Failure to be verified means that insufficient eligible citations of this usage have been found, and the entry therefore does not meet Wiktionary inclusion criteria at the present time. We have archived here the disputed information, the verification discussion, and any documentation gathered so far, pending further evidence.
Do not re-add this information to the article without also submitting proof that it meets Wiktionary's criteria for inclusion.
Rfv-sense "{{informal}} An assertive(Can we verify(+) this sense?) person, often female, who gets what he/she wants." Added to the middle of the sense, but not listed, with the comment "Where are there notable cases of someone being called a bitch solely for being assertive?" - -sche (discuss) 08:05, 16 December 2012 (UTC)
- I think I mistakenly added that sense while cleaning up the entry, based on a misinterpretation of some of the quotations. --WikiTiki89 08:08, 16 December 2012 (UTC)
- I don't know that it's a mistake, but it would need citations and unambiguous support may be hard to find. DCDuring TALK 20:37, 16 December 2012 (UTC)
- Not aware of this sense, I note the lack of a
{{pejorative}}tag. Mglovesfun (talk) 23:46, 16 December 2012 (UTC)
- Not aware of this sense, I note the lack of a
- I don't know that it's a mistake, but it would need citations and unambiguous support may be hard to find. DCDuring TALK 20:37, 16 December 2012 (UTC)
- Deleted. - -sche (discuss) 08:25, 7 February 2013 (UTC)
RFD
The following information has failed Wiktionary's deletion process.
It should not be re-entered without careful consideration.
rfd-sense bitch#Verb #1. I don't see how it is any different from #2. --WikiTiki89 11:53, 11 November 2012 (UTC)
- I can see what the entry is trying to do. If I say " is a slut, she sleeps with anyone" that's not complaining per se, it's nastiness/bitterness. If I say "working till 8pm on a Friday is a bitch" that's not nastiness/bitterness, it's complaining. There's a lot of overlap. Mglovesfun (talk) 13:59, 11 November 2012 (UTC)
- Well it depends on the context, but I would either say that those are still both really the same sense and the sense is not exactly equivalent to the word "complaining", or that the first example is not bitching per se but more like "being a bitch". --WikiTiki89 14:17, 11 November 2012 (UTC)
- As it stands, delete per nom. If there is a distinct sense, word it better and give it a more distinctive usex. - -sche (discuss) 06:53, 12 November 2012 (UTC)
deleted -- Liliana • 22:22, 6 May 2013 (UTC)
Additional Forms and synonym
Bitch is often alternatively spelled "bytch" or "bish" Perhaps adding the chiefly British slang "slag" would do.
French senses
@Per utramque cavernam The French section has only one sense with the terrible, no-good gloss "all senses". I'm sceptical; does the French word really have the attested meaning "female dog" or "queen (of spades)", or even all of the slang senses? ←₰-→ Lingo Bingo Dingo (talk) 07:58, 21 August 2018 (UTC)
- @Lingo Bingo Dingo: No, definitely not; it's only used as a synonym of connasse (sense 2). (If you ask me it's only code-switching, but I guess the entry doesn't hurt.) Per utramque cavernam 08:29, 21 August 2018 (UTC)
I just learned this phrase, but it seems to be widely used, so I added it to wiktionary. I tried to add it as a derived term to bitch, but my permission level isn't high enough. Can someone else do it please, if it's appropriate? HouseOfChange (talk) 00:40, 10 November 2021 (UTC)
Some sense related to candles?
I found this in Virginia Sorensen's A Little Lower than the Angels (1942):
- One by one, Zarahemla snuffed its candles, doused the bitches in the saucers. Every hand belonged to one who thought of Brother Joseph, whose candle would burn no more .
Anyone know what this means? Thmazing (talk) 15:25, 3 May 2022 (UTC)
Extension
So the word can mean "Promiscuous Woman" and can also mean "Woman" in general, would it be a good idea to have a "by extension" put in" 47.219.43.28 23:47, 6 July 2023 (UTC)
Earlier citation for the verb sense
Greetings and felicitations. Despite the age of my account, I am a relative neophyte to editing Wiktionary (as opposed to Wikipedia), so I am posting this here, in the hope that it will prove useful.
Regarding New York's claim against Vermont's petition for statehood; John Jay was sent there to support the claim, but came to support Vermont's position instead:
"Despite his best efforts, the Vermont question became a victim of gridlock in Congress. As he put it with obvious distain, 'the issue was "bitched" in its last as well as first stages.'"
- Ellis, Joseph J. (2015). The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783–1789. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 71 ISBN 978-0-385-35340-3. OCLC 903811420. The source is cited in Chapter 3's note 9, p. 261:
- Lawrence, Amanda Reeser; Nuxoll, Elizabeth M. (eds.) (2012). to Egbert Benson, 26 August 1782. The Selected Papers of John Jay. Vol. 2: 1780–1782. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press. p. 326. ISBN 9780813931234. →OCLC. https://books.google.com/books?id=BuUlzgEACAAJ
I have not seen the original, but do have the Ellis volume in hand. — DocWatson42 (talk) 05:40, 25 June 2024 (UTC)